Jülich physicist Bo Persson has presented a theory on the sliding of glacier ice on rocky ground. With this theory, glaciologists could improve the computer models they use to predict the flow rate and melting of glaciers. This is important in order to foresee how climate change will affect glaciers and sea levels in the future.

The Alzheimer’s drug candidate PRI-002, which was developed at FZ Jülich, is entering the next clinical trial phase: on 8 January, the first healthy test subjects were given their first daily dose of the drug, marking the beginning of clinical phase Ib of the study. The aim is to demonstrate the safety of the drug candidate throughout four consecutive weeks of daily administration.

Biotechnology is regarded as one of the key technologies of the 21st century. It is a motor for the international competitiveness of Germany’s economy and makes an important contribution to the bioeconomy. Our author Katja Lüers visited the biotechnologist Prof. Wolfgang Wiechert at Forschungszentrum Jülich and talked with him about current developments and prospects of the so-called white biotechnology.

According to the researcher Jiankui He from Shenzhen University in China, the first humans to have been genetically manipulated using the CRISPR/Cas9 molecular genetic scissors were born in November. In two girls, a gene for a receptor of the immune system was purposefully removed in the embryonic stage in order to make them resistant to HIV infections. They will also pass this change on to their descendants.

The quantum technology flagship of the European Commission was launched in October 2018. Spanning ten years, the research programme will use grants totalling one billion euros to promote the development of products based on the rules of the exotic quantum world. Our author talked to the physicist Tommaso Calarco about the content orientation of the flagship programme’s first funding round.

Scientists from the Borexino Collaboration have published the most comprehensive analysis to date of neutrinos from the nuclear fusion process inside the sun. With the aid of the observatory located 1,400 metres below the Earth’s surface, they were able to obtain a complete solar neutrino spectrum and clearly detect neutrinos from a previously unconfirmed reaction for the first time.

A new family member for Jülich’s scientific infrastructure: JuSPARC is a milestone for information science and materials science at Forschungszentrum Jülich. In the long run, JuSPARC will be established as a user facility. Eventually, particle acceleration will also be possible there.

On 8 October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its special report on the 1.5 °C climate target. The tenor of the report: it’s urgent! Prof. Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Director of the Jülich Institute of Energy and Climate Research, contributed to the report as an expert. We asked her for her assessment.